


The Woods

by FrostKitten



Category: Marble Hornets, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Slender Man Mythos
Genre: Gen, Jack Wolfe as a Kid, One Shot, Proxy!Jack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-12
Updated: 2015-05-12
Packaged: 2018-03-30 05:28:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3924583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrostKitten/pseuds/FrostKitten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Woods are a piece of the Fourth Dimension. It has its bright side, full of life and light, with eggs and baby Pokemon romping through the trees...</p><p>...and it has its dark side, where the shadows hold mysteries.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Woods

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry I haven't updated! I'm having a tough time with writing, so I decided to see if this one-shot could shake anything loose. I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Also, this is a "What happened to Jay after he got shot" thing.

Jack was still in his pajamas, the blue ones with brown teddiursas all over it. He had gotten them two years ago for his fourth birthday, a little big then since they had once belonged to his brother, but now the legs were about an inch too short and the top was a bit tight. Why wasn't he in his room? He stared around, rubbing sleepily at his differently colored eyes.

Instead of the warm brown walls of his room, or the nest of blankets he had made on his bed, he stood in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by dead trees and brown grass. Strange white bits were tied to some of the trees with frayed twine, and a strange symbol had been cut into one of the trunks: a circle with an "x."

"Hello?" he called out, hugging himself as a cold breeze brushed past him. "Liam? Mister Richards?" There was no answer from either his foster brother or guardian, but he shifted uncomfortably; he suddenly felt like someone was staring at him, hard. 

He sniffed, tears pricking at his eyes. It was cold, and he was alone, and he was going to be in so much trouble when Mister Richards found out he had somehow gotten out of his room! He sobbed quietly. He just wanted to go back to his bed!

"Hey."

Jack jumped and twisted, startled by the man who had suddenly appeared behind him. The man was wearing jeans, a green shirt, a baseball cap, and a dark jacket that hung open, revealing a weird brownish stain. He quickly held his hands up.

"It's okay, buddy." Jack eyed him mistrustfully. He wasn't supposed to talk to strangers, but this one was probably the only one who knew where he was or how to get home. "How'd you get here?" the man asked kindly.

"Woke up here," Jack whispered. The man frowned. 

"I'm Jay. What's your name?" The man took a step closer.

"Jack." He slid a foot back in response, before he caught it on something in the grass and fell backwards, landing with a hard thump. He cried out when he landed, tears forming.

Jay was suddenly there before he could get back up. "Don't cry," he soothed, glancing nervously around. He stood Jack back up and wrapped his jacket around the boy's shaking shoulders. "Here, you must be cold."

Something in the woods cracked, and they both froze. Jack's eyes widened and he huddled against Jay, wondering if Mister Richards had found him finally and uncertain if that was good or bad. Jay slowly scanned the trees, head moving from one side of the clearing to the other methodically before stopping, staring almost directly to their right. Jack followed his gaze and saw, for the first time,  _him._

He was tall, easily at least seven feet, and was wearing one of those fancy suits he saw Mister Richards wear for the Christmas ball last year. A black one with a white shirt, and a red tie. But his head...His head was bald, covered in smooth white flesh, his lips just as pale and almost unnoticeable. His eyes were dark pits set into his face, with no discernible whites or irises. His limbs were long and thin, and Jack was vaguely reminded of the drawings his brother used to make before he died, the ones that Mister Richards had torn up and had sparked the "don't go anywhere with strangers" conversation.

The ones with the tall man in their room, playing with James on the floor while Jack slept obliviously.

The tall man stood only feet away, just inside the tree line at the edge of the clearing. Jay had seemingly frozen in fear, arms locked around Jack. But Jack couldn't understand why.

"Did you know James?" he asked curiously. He missed James; his brother always had time to play with him, even though he was several years older than Jack.

The tall figure slowly, deliberately tilted his head forward. Then he raised his arms, as if inviting the boy to a hug, and beckoned with one hand.

This seemed to break the spell. Jay tucked Jack close to his body and bolted away, face caught somewhere between terror and determination. "Stay the hell away from us," he shouted.

Jack squirmed in his captor's grip, unable to get away. Why was he running away? The tall man was friendly! He played with James, he would play with them! And maybe he would tell them about James, too. Jack's face twisted, tears already beginning to fall, and he screamed right in Jay's ear.

Jay flinched and stumbled at the ear piercing sound. "Shhh!" he hissed desperately, looking around. He spotted a cabin almost hidden by the trees and darted towards it, closing the door carefully behind them.

The inside was dirty and the only furniture in the room was broken. Jay set the squirming boy down inside a cabinet with the door half off its hinges, wrapped him tighter in the jacket, and propped the door partially up so it covered him. He put one hand over Jack's mouth, ignoring the boy's attempts to lick him to get free.

"Listen, kid, I need you to pay attention. Okay?" Jack, tears streaming down his face, nodded. "That man is dangerous, okay? Don't go near him. He's bad. Do you understand?" Jack sobbed, but nodded again. "Good. I'm going to distract him and make him follow me, okay? Wait ten minutes, then you can come out, alright?" Another nod. "When you come out, I want you to run. As fast as you can, run east. Do you know which way is east?" He shook his head. "It's the direction the sun comes up in. Look and see where it's going down, then go the exact other way. Okay?" Jack scrunched his face up but nodded anyway. "Alright, I'm going now--"

The man was ripped away, landing hard against one wall and sliding to the floor. He didn't get up.

The tall man stood just behind where Jay had been, a wriggling appendage sticking out of his back and still extended. Other weird tentacles stuck out as well, most hanging to his sides or floating at about waist level.

Jack pressed himself against the back of the cabinet, scared for the first time. He flinched as the man turned to face him, one tentacle reaching out to brush his face. He closed his eyes, feeling the appendage wrap around his waist and one around his chest and lifting him free. 

<Child.> Cool fingers brushed his cheek.

His eyes snapped open as the voice echoed through his mind. What was that?

He felt something in the back of his mind, almost like a thought he couldn't quite catch, before he had a brief flash of an image. Him sleeping in his bed in the nursery while James played in the moonlit play area, and a tall man unfolding himself from the closet and sitting beside James to play.

Jack's mouth opened in a round "o." James looked so happy there. Why had Jay said the tall man was bad, then?

Another image, this one of James with his shirt pulled up, his left shoulder blade branded with the circle and "x" mark he had seen earlier. Then James's body being found in the lake, floating face down, though the details were a little fuzzy. Jack swallowed past a lump in his throat.

Then, almost hesitantly, an image of Jack with  _his_ left shoulder blade branded with that mark.

He was confused. How could he take James's place?

<James was special,> the echoing voice said. <You cannot replace him. But I need your help.>

"My help?" Jack whispered. "How?" What could he even do that this super strong person couldn't? How could he help someone who had thrown a full grown man across a room?

<Nothing difficult, child. Take the mark. Live. If I need you, I will call.>

Jack's face scrunched up, but he nodded. "Okay." Jack felt himself be settled against the tall man's chest and laid his head on the man's shoulder. 

<Then let us return you home.> The world began to shimmer.

"What about Jay?" Jack asked, his eyes already drooping shut. There was a pause.

<He will be fine.>


End file.
